WHSmith has become the second UK eBook retailer to drop the price of Sony’s Pocket Reader, matching Waterstone’s £99 asking price, and has also dropped the price of Sony’s larger Touch Reader to just £189 – £10 lower than Waterstone’s.
In a sign that price competition has truly arrived in the UK following the entrance of Amazon’s Kindle and the iPad, WHSmith’s has also cut the price of “all ebooks” by 50%. The reduction follows an earlier deal on the retailer’s top 100 eBooks.
The price reductions mean WHSmith’s are selling many books within pennies of Kindle’s asking prices and for rare less than Waterstones.com.
Kindle’s top selling book is currently listed as The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest which the US giant is pushing at £2.68, while WHSmiths is asking £2.72 and Waterstones.com £5.49.
Unlike titles bought from the Kindle store, eBooks from WHSmiths and Waterstones can be read on most brands of eReaders so long as they support the ePub/Adobe DRM combination.